"So pretty!"
Sophie praised with delight, "It must be worth a lot of money!"
"Sister, take it."
Su Chen handed the wooden hairpin over.
"Really for me?"
Sophie's eyes widened.
"Take it!" Su Chen frowned, "Stop dawdling, take it quickly. I'm sleepy."
"Thanks, brother." Sophie grinned, took the wooden hairpin, casually put it away, and then left.
Su Chen leaned back on the bed.
He touched his forehead and mumbled to himself, "My head hurts. It's probably a lingering effect from the concussion."
"Young Master, have a cup of tea to cool down." An old man brought a steaming cup of tea to the door.
This was Chen Fulin, the old butler specially assigned to serve Su Chen in the Su family.
Su Chen reached out to take the teacup.
"Be careful, it's hot..." Chen Fulin handed the teacup over, but after saying two words, he froze, staring blankly at Su Chen.
"What's wrong, Uncle Chen?"
Su Chen was puzzled. Following Chen Fulin's gaze, he was stunned. He saw a beautiful woman with a frosty expression standing there.
The beautiful woman wore simple, plain clothes, but they couldn't hide her tall, graceful figure. She was fair-skinned, beautiful, and pure.
"M-Madam?"
Chen Fulin's voice trembled.
Hearing this, Su Chen was even more bewildered. What was going on? Who was Madam?
"Bang!"
Madam Su kicked Su Chen in the chest and yelled, "You scoundrel, how dare you ambush me!"
*Thump—*
Su Chen was sent flying and landed on the ground, clutching his chest and groaning in pain.
"You..."
Madam Su pointed at him, her delicate body trembling with anger.
"Ahem."
Chen Fulin coughed twice and explained, "Young Master, she... she is our future Madam."
"Huh?"
Su Chen was dumbfounded.
"Get out, get out!" Madam Su snapped, "A scumbag like you is not worthy of my Fei'er!"
"What's going on?"
Su Chen got up.
Chen Fulin quickly explained, "Young Master, after you fainted yesterday, Madam and the Eldest Young Master had an argument, and then... then..."
"Then what?" Su Chen pressed.
Chen Fulin hesitated, then whispered, "Young Master, please rest first. I'll explain it to you slowly later."
"Oh."
Su Chen shuffled towards the bedroom and fell into a deep sleep on the bed.
"Sigh."
Chen Fulin sighed, retreated from the room, closed the door, and stood guard outside.
...
The next morning.
The sun shone brightly.
Su Chen rubbed his sleepy eyes, got out of bed, and walked to the window, breathing in the fresh air. He felt refreshed.
"Knock, knock, knock—"
There was a knock on the door.
"Brother, are you awake?" Sophie pushed the door open and came in.
Su Chen turned his head to look at her and smiled, "What time is it? You're already calling me to wake up. How unfilial of you."
"Hmph!"
Sophie snorted and said, "I'm afraid of delaying your cultivation."
"I don't have the motivation to cultivate right now. Even if I did, do you think I'd be efficient?" Su Chen spread his hands helplessly.
Sophie pouted, "From now on, you have to do the punch routine three times every morning."
"No way..."
Su Chen wailed.
Three rounds of punch routine every day would be enough to exhaust him within a week.
Sophie said, "You have to learn martial arts sooner or later anyway."
As she spoke, she took out the wooden hairpin and handed it to Su Chen, smiling, "This hairpin is quite special."
"Hmm?"
Su Chen's gaze was strange, "What's special about it?"
"I don't know."
Sophie shook the wooden hairpin twice.
She only knew it was made of high-quality sandalwood.
"Is it pretty?"
Su Chen asked.
"It's pretty." Sophie giggled.
Su Chen curved his lips, then snatched the wooden hairpin and pretended, "Let me put it in your hair for you."
Sophie was startled.
Immediately after, her pretty face flushed, and she shyly said, "N-No..."
"Haha!"
Seeing her shy and flustered appearance, Su Chen burst into laughter.
"You're annoying!"
Sophie stomped her foot and ran out.
"This girl."
Su Chen shook his head, walked out of the room, and washed up.
Just as he finished eating, Chen Fulin walked in, bowing apologetically, "Young Master, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were still asleep."
Su Chen said, "I'm not a child. Whether I wake up or not is my right. You don't need to apologize to me."
Chen Fulin hesitated, "But, this will affect your cultivation..."
"It's fine. I've made up my mind. From now on, I will work diligently and strive to improve my strength in a short period of time." Su Chen said earnestly.
Chen Fulin was surprised, "Has the Young Master finally made up his mind?"
"Of course."
Su Chen waved his hand and said, "I've decided. Starting today, I will persist in cultivating every day!"
He said this deliberately for the beautiful woman standing by the door, while secretly observing if she would show a look of disdain.
As expected.
Madam Su scoffed, "How disgraceful. To avoid cultivation, you even disregard your own dignity."
With that, she turned and left, clearly looking down on Su Chen.
"Hehe!"
Su Chen chuckled and scratched his head.
This woman had quite a temper.
"By the way, what's your name?" Su Chen asked.
"Chen Fulin."
"How old are you?"
"Around forty."
"Oh, I understand." Su Chen patted his forehead, looking as if he had realized something.
Chen Fulin said, "Young Master, what do you understand?"
Su Chen pointed to the wooden box on the table and smiled, "I understand."
The wooden box contained Spirit Beads, which could give mortals strong bodies, temper their muscles and bones, and allow their cultivation to grow rapidly.
Although not as good as elixirs or techniques, they were several times more valuable than ordinary spirit stones.
"Are these Spirit Beads from Madam?" Su Chen asked.
"Mm."
Chen Fulin nodded, then gave a bitter smile, "If I remember correctly, this is already the ninth Spirit Bead."
Nine times!
In other words.
Madam Su had given Su Chen nine top-grade Spirit Beads!
In one month, he had consumed eighty low-grade Spirit Beads, one mid-grade Spirit Bead, and six or seven high-grade Spirit Beads!
Su Chen exclaimed, "That's amazing!"
"Yes!"
Chen Fulin said with deep emotion, "Young Master, it's all thanks to Madam that you are alive. If not for her..."
He didn't continue.
Su Chen could guess that his mother was his savior.
"Thank you."
Su Chen thanked him sincerely.
"I should be thanking you, Young Master. If not for you, the Eldest Miss wouldn't have survived until now." Chen Fulin said emotionally.
Su Chen waved his hand, "Let's not talk about this matter anymore. Hurry up and prepare lunch. I'm starving."
"Yes!"
Chen Fulin respectfully withdrew.
A moment later.
The Su family's chef brought the sumptuous dishes to the dining room, and Su Chen sat alone at the table, enjoying his meal.
...
After eating his fill, Su Chen strolled through the garden, leisurely basking in the sun.
Suddenly, he stopped, his brows furrowed.
*Rumble!*
A violent commotion erupted from within the Su Manor.
Su Chen looked up and saw that the courtyard of the Su Manor had been blown to pieces, with smoke and dust billowing.
The members of the Su family gathered in the courtyard.
Su Yuanzhi, Su Changan, and Su Haoran were all present, but Su Fei was nowhere to be seen.
"Father, what's going on?" Su Chen asked.
Su Yuanzhi shook his head and said, "Your second sister is practicing sword on the rooftop!"
"Practicing sword?"
Su Chen pouted.
He had always liked wielding swords and spears since he was a child and was not interested in so-called sword techniques.
Su Haoran frowned, "Su Chen, your second sister's martial meridians are damaged. She only has half a martial meridian left. She is destined to be without a sword martial spirit for the rest of her life."
"That's too tragic!"
Su Chen sighed with emotion.
Su Haoran pondered for a moment, "Since your second sister has no hope of learning martial arts, let's send her to study music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Perhaps she can marry into a wealthy family in the future!"
The Su family's ancestor was an emperor, and there were various artistic and technical collections in the imperial palace.
Su Yuanzhi said, "I've already found someone to teach Fei Fei."
Su Haoran said, "In that case, you should urge her to cultivate diligently so that she can marry into a wealthy family in the future."
"Father, rest assured, I will urge Fei Fei to cultivate even harder!" Su Yuanzhi vowed.
Su Haoran said indifferently, "During this period, you need to keep an eye on her and don't let her be lazy."
"I know!"
Su Yuanzhi nodded.